Sparks in the stands and dizzy bat proposals: Your Phillies love stories

Is that a fly ball in the air? No, it’s love.

The Phillies — now aiming for a National League Championship Series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks — are among Philadelphia’s most coveted wingmen, with their games setting the backdrop for plenty of home run love stories.

Yes, $450 can get you a proposal package and a spot on the Jumbotron at Citizens Bank Park, but the team has also helped locals find their perfect catch in unexpected ways.

Scoring tickets to a Phils game has helped people grow from flirtatious coworkers or reluctant Hinge dates into something more, while tailgates and dollar dogs have set the scene for surprise proposals.

The team’s wild-card victories against the Florida Marlins even helped reunite a missed connection that began with a drunk bite of pizza at an Eagles game, because there is nothing more Philly than declaring your love with sports tickets.

» READ MORE: A slice of pizza and a Facebook group brought these smitten Eagles fans together for a Phillies date

So with love in hearts and bells (of the wedding or locker room variety) ringing in our heads, we asked readers: What is your Phillies love story?

Here are seven, lightly edited for length and clarity.

“My fiancé, Anthony, and I were friends and kickball teammates first, but we quickly fell in love due to our mutual love of sports. The Phillies are the foundation of our relationship, in a way, and we love them as much as we love one another.

When we bought a house together in 2020, we joked that we wanted to have the stadium in our backyard. That came in handy when Anthony proposed in September 2022 on the way to a Phillies-Nationals game at Citizens Bank Park. We had 20 of our friends over before the game for a hot dog bar, and then as we walked to the stadium, he was adamant that we pass by the Citizens Bank Park sign. Once we got there, our friends fell behind, and Anthony got down on one knee. I didn’t remember watching much of the game after that.

We got our engagement photos done at Philladium because that’s where we fell in love, watching Phillies and Eagles games. One of our friends even turned us into Phillies bobbleheads as an engagement present. The gift sits on a shelf in our basement next to bobbleheads of real players.” — Cara Swetsky, 31, Lower Moyamensing

“My husband dan proposed to me at a Phillies tailgate with all of my family and friends there in 2019. We were in Lot G playing dizzy bat — which is this game where you spin around a baseball bat for the same number of seconds that you chugged a drink for — when he proposed.

“When I looked up from spinning around for 10 seconds, I expected him to pitch me the ball but instead he was on one knee! I stumbled, slammed the bat down like Rhys Hoskins, and said yes. We got married in July 2021.” — Danielle DiCiacco, 30, Jenkintown

“Jordan — who is my boyfriend now — had been living in Philly for three years but had never been to a Phillies game when we met in June 2023. He told me on our first date he loved playing baseball growing up, so when I discovered he hadn’t been to a game and wanted to go on a second date, I bought tickets. (I actually had them in the cart before even asking if he wanted to go with me!)

“Jordan eventually told me that he really liked me because of the Phillies tickets and what they represented, which is that I’m spontaneous and I take initiative.

“Maybe it was the nerves, maybe it was us getting caught up in conversation, but on our way to the game we ended up taking the [Broad Street Line] in the opposite direction of the stadium and only realized two stops before the end of the line. We only missed the first two innings, but we spent the rest of the time watching the Phils beat the Dodgers, drinking tall boys, and getting to know each other. And at the end of that night, we had our first kiss.” — Paige Sulzberg, 25, Manayunk

“My husband, Joseph, asked me out 14 times before I finally said yes — and it was mostly because I had just gone on a really bad date with another guy and Joseph had Phillies tickets.

“Joseph and I were coworkers at a mortgage company. He was shy and nervous and I’m the type to talk my way out of a paper bag, yet he was somehow the one always asking to get dinner or drinks after work. At one point in 2017 I just texted him, ‘So about that date?’ and when he said he had Phils tickets I didn’t ask any other questions. I was in.

“The Phillies played the San Francisco Giants in a horrible game and we lost, but the day was so special that we flew to San Francisco for our one-year anniversary to watch the Padres play the Phils. Joseph and I got married in December 2022.” — Jennifer Struczynsky, 34, Mayfair

“Mine and Andrew’s love story begins five years ago in 2017 at the start of spring training. We would watch every game or listen to them on the radio in our Phillies gear.

“Andrew proposed to me on Oct. 3 of this year during the first wild-card game against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. He told me he had been trying to come up with a way to propose that wasn’t awkward since he bought the ring, so when he got last-minute tickets that Tuesday, he got the idea to do it at the stadium.

“Andrew got down on one knee as crowds were streaming into the stadium, and we had a huge group of rowdy Phillies fans cheering us on. His daughter filmed the video, but it had a few too many LFGs to post on social media, so we added “Dancing on My Own” in the background. We plan on incorporating the song into our big day.” — Jeanne Girard, 42, Northfield, N.J.

“I met my husband, Alex, during Drexel Night at Citizens Bank Park during my sophomore year of college in 2010.

“This was way back when Drexel would give students Phils tickets and two SEPTA tokens for, like, $15 so I went with a few friends from the crew team. Alex and his friends were sitting a few rows in front of us, and though I cannot remember who we played, I remember Alex just being the life of the party.

“When he went to buy something from concessions, I asked his friends if he was single. We exchanged numbers that night, and we’ve been together ever since, now with two kids who we are raising to be Phillies fans.” — Alexandra Yeganeh, 33, Manayunk

“The Phillies are the reason me and my girlfriend Shannon met in the first place.

“Shannon is a Delco girl from a family of diehard Phillies fans and a huge introvert, so when we met on Hinge she wasn’t interested in a dinner or coffee date since she was nervous we wouldn’t have enough to talk about. But when I got Phillies tickets from my Uncle Frank under the guise of taking a friend for our first date, Shannon and I hit it off.

“We moved in together the day before the Phillies’ first no-hitter since 2015, which happened to be on my birthday. Shannon and I had tickets to the game — again courtesy of Uncle Frank — so we got to canoodle while the Phils clobbered the Washington Nationals and Nick Castellanos hit his 200th career home run.

“Sunday is our one-year anniversary. So if this makes the paper and the Phils make it to the next round of the playoffs, I’d love The Inquirer almost as much as I love my girlfriend.” — James Tow Jackson, 26, Center City